in the dark
by collierider12
Summary: Phillip always knew he would get an experience from going to the mountains. just not THIS experience


**And i'm back with a second story, that isn't a chapter for BAFF or RBW, any of the fans of the other stories are probably wondering why i haven't come up with anything new, and that reason is because i just feel like i've worn down my energy for those specific stories. i find this as a way to experiment and build up character development, as well as a hiatus from the same natural thing.**

**In short, i do plan to return, but for the moment i think i'll make a few other stories to help the process.**

Phillip walked through the blizzard with his suitcase in one hand and his other on his scarf to keep it from blowing off.

"I swear the professor just send me out to these cold area's, just to see if i'll survive." Phillip grunted, stomping through the thick snow.

A couple weeks ago, the professor assigned his assistant, Phillip, to go to the mountains to study some abomasnows and snovers, he had arrived by chopper on the first day, but when he went back a few days ago, he got a message that his chopper wasn't capable of making it through the blizzard, which was gradually growing stronger. Luckily, Phillip had come across a few caves where pokemon were willing to share what food they found, for the last couple days he had been living in and out of caves, the fact that he hadn't gotten sick was somewhat of a miracle.

As Phillip continued to make his way through the snow he continued to look for a cave that would suit him for the night. As he searched, his body kept telling him to rest, it had been a long day of marching and his body just wanted to stop. Phillip tried his best to ignore the feeling but it was growing hard. It wasn't until moments later did her finally find a cave that was decent enough for him to sleep in. Phillip nearly collapsed as he entered the cave, it had a warm pull to it, but Phillip needed to go a little deeper before he could rest, pokemon dwelled in the night time. If he stopped now, a carnivore would easily be able to spot him, caught off guard, he would be a free meal. Continuing his struggle, Phillip placed one of his hands on the wall to help keep him up, he could have sworn he felt something watching him from within the cave, but a close look at his surroundings show just rocks and darkness, Phillip reached into his suitcase and pulled out a flashlight, which luckily was hand charged with a crank. Phillip turned on the light and continued his way down the cave, when he finally felt he was deep enough, Phillip threw his stuff down and sat down, letting out a loud grunt as he put himself into position, removing his cap revealed his brown hair, removing the goggles revealed his green eyes. Phillip continued to remove the thick clothing that wrapped around him like a snake, the cave was warm, warmer than the other he had been in, when Phillip removed the last coat he had on, he flopped on his back, leaving him in just a t-shirt and jeans.

"Just two more days, then i should finally be able to get off this mountain and get back to town, that's all it will take." Phillip thought. Phillip gathered his clothes and packed the together, some were used as a mattress and others were used as covers, wrapping himself in the clothes he took off, Phillip let sleep take over his body. It wasn't long however before something woke him up. Phillip sat up, it sounded like a gasp.

"Hello, is someone there?" He asked, feeling stupid. "No one would come all the way out here, it's practically a winter death trap up here." He thought. "I had to of imagined it, it's just this mountain getting to me." Phillip thought, laying back in his makeshift mattress.

Meanwhile, an audino hid behind one of the rocks in the cave, turning back to look over the edge of the rock, the mysterious human had gone back to sleep. "I don't believe it, it really is one of them, a human." She thought. The Audino stepped out from her hiding spot when she was sure that the human had gone too sleep.

The cave Phillip had picked was home to an audino, who had been living there for a long time, the other pokemon didn't know much of her past, she always seemed uncomfortable on that level, constantly changing her story, or adding in new details to an old one. It had been a long time since she had seen a human, the Audino stepped closer to Phillip in careful baby steps, when she got close, she got on her knees and dug her short arms into the mattress of sweaters Phillip had created. Audino noted how warm and fuzzy the sweaters felt on her hands. Audino moved on from the mattress to Phillip himself. Audino had an incredible view in the dark, because she had lived in the dark cave most of her life, she had practically developed night vision. She brushed her paw past his brown hair, before moving down to Phillips face. Audino felt the softness of his cheeks on her paws as she rubbed them. "It's been so long, i've forgotten what a human's skin fells like." She thought. The Audino was also amazed the human wasn't waking up. The Audino decided to do one last thing before she left Phillip alone, grabbing one of her feelers that hung from her ears, the Audino placed her feeler on Phillips chest. "Exhaustion, fear, and determination." Audino thought as she noted what Phillip was feeling. Audino pulled away her Feeler and stood up, the next thing that came up on Audino's agenda was Phillips suitcase. Audino went over to it with a sense of curiosity, to that of a child's i might point out.

The audino flipped up the locks and opened the suitcase, which was fairly large. As Audino rummaged through the strange devices and vials, she couldn't help but feel a sense of enjoyment, the one she hadn't felt in a long time. Audino picked up one of the vials and took a close look at it. "What the heck is this?" She thought taking a closer. After taking a closer look she realized what the weird shade of green was. "Urine?" She thought. "What's a human doing with a vial of Urine?" Audino put the sample back and continued to rummage through Phillips suitcase. Audino's hand suddenly brushed across something she hadn't seen before. Picking it up, she noted that it looked like a flashlight, but it had a crank on it, something she never saw on flashlights before. Audino fiddled with the weird device until she noticed the button on the side, she pressed it.

Immediately a bright light shined in her eyes. Audino let out a shriek and feel back, right on Phillip. In a reaction, Phillip woke with a start, thinking he was being attacked, Phillip let his arms flail as he tried to get up. When Phillip got to his feet, he stumbled in the darkness, before quickly picking his flashlight off the floor, shining the flashlight at his mattress and the Audino.

The Audino covered her eyes in reaction, when Phillip noticed this, he set the Flashlight to low, allowing the Audino to uncover her eyes. Phillip put his hand on his chest and breathed out a sigh of relief. "Arceus, for a second there i thought you were a mamoswine." Phillip commented.

The Audino stood paralyzed, despite the fact the human didn't seem mad, she still felt scared, like it was the rainstorm before the flood. Feeling her senses jolt back to her body, the Audino made a break for it, running at top speed past Phillip. "Hey, wait!" Phillip called, but she had already gone past the distance of his flashlight. "I swear, after this i'm quitting my job." Phillip muttered as he searched for the Audino, grabbing his suitcase just in case. Phillip continued down the cave, searching behind every rock for the pokemon. "She couldn't have run that far." Phillip thought. "I didn't think Audino's had the legs for it." Phillip came to a part of the cave, that cut nearly straight down, convincing him he had just missed a rock she had been hiding behind on his way here, as Phillip turned around, he suddenly heard a moan. Phillip turned around and looked down the steep slope, shining his light down revealed what he had been looking for, the Audino. Though it seemed to be injured, it 's hands were holding it's foot, and a small puddle of blood surrounded it's head. Phillip slowly made his way down the slop, making sure he didn't slip and fall, when he came to the bottom, the Audino didn't look relived to see him.

"Please don't be mad." The Audino begged. "I was just curious i didn't mean to wake you."

"Right now, i think you have something else to be worried about rather than me being mad." Phillip pointed out, walking closer. "You look injured, what happened?" Phillip asked, getting on one knee to further survey the creature.

"I was running, and i wasn't l-looking where i was going, and by accident i fell." The Audino replied. "I accidentally sprained my ankle."

"That's not all, you seem to have a head wound." Phillip replied, taking a better look at the blood stain on the side of her head.

"W-what do you plan to do?" The Audino asked.

"Well, I'm no doctor." Phillip replied, reaching into his suitcase. "But i think first of all, we need to cover up the blood running from your head."

Phillip pulled out some gauze, and pulled out the pin, Phillip began to wrap the Gauze around the wounded spot, when Phillip felt the gauze was thick enough to stop the blood flow, he cut off the unused Gauze and placed the pin the on the Audino's gauze to keep it from falling off. "As for the foot." Phillip replied. "I think it's best you stay off of it."

"Why are you helping me, aren't you mad that i messed with your stuff?" The audino asked.

"Not really, your not the first pokemon who's gone through my things." Phillip replied, putting up the gauze. "I mean, as long as you didn't plan to kill me, i don't really have a reason to be angry."

"So, you mean you don't plan to punish me?" The Audino asked.

"I'm pretty sure the cave did that for me." Phillip replied. "Look, i'm going to go back for some of my things, you stay here and make sure to keep off that foot." Phillip replied getting up, and grabbing the flashlight. "Think you will be fine here?" Phillip asked.

"Yes." The audino replied.

Phillip nodded and started to climb back up the slope to get his things. The Audino laid on her back, letting out a sigh of relief. "That was close." She thought. "For a second there i thought i was done for." The Audino looked over a Phillip's suitcase. "I wonder what else he has in there?"

It felt like forever, but Phillip did eventually come back, carrying the clothes he had when he came in. "What are you doing with those?" The Audino asked.

"These are what i use to make my bed with." Phillip replied throwing the various clothes on the floor.

"You mean like the one you made earlier." The Audino asked.

"Precisely." Phillip replied, then froze. "Wait, how did you know about my bed." Phillip asked.

The Audino froze. "Have you been spying on me?" Phillip asked.

"Uh, no." The Audino replied unconvincingly. Phillip raised an eyebrow.

"Come on, be honest with me." He replied.

"I might have watched you enter the cave." She admitted nervously.

"And?" Phillip asked.

"And maybe followed you." Audino confessed shamefully.

Phillip looked at her for a second before chuckling. "Not like i haven't heard that before."

The audino was confused. "Trust me, your not the first one that's done that to me." Phillip informed. The Audino was still a little confused, but felt that she would be better to leave it alone. The Audino watched as Phillip piled the clothes into a little nest, but what caught her attention was, it wasn't very big.

"Isn't that a little small for you?" The Audino asked.

"This isn't for me." Phillip replied. The Audino was a little surprised at his response. "Alright, if you don't mind, I'm going to pick you up for a second."

"Uh, i guess that's alright." The Audino replied nervously.

Phillip moved his arms so that they were under the pokemon. "Alright, ready?" Phillip asked.

The Audino nodded. Phillip grunted as he picked the Audino off the ground, moving her onto the nest of clothes. "Alright." He sighed, as he laid the Audino on the mattress. "Do you Feel comfortable, or do you want me to pile more clothes on?" Phillip asked.

"It's better than the cave floor." The Audino replied.

Phillip smiled. "Good, i figured since you were injured, you wouldn't want to spend the whole time on the cold dark floor."

The Audino rolled around a little bit to get more comfortable, then sighing once she was in a good position. "Why are you helping me?" The Audino asked. "You never really told me why."

Phillip looked at the Audino. "Well, Why shouldn't i help you?" Phillip asked.

"I rummaged through your stuff, and then i spied on you, and i messed with you in your sleep." Audino suddenly shut her mouth, but the surprise on the humans face told her he caught that detail.

"You messed with me in my sleep?" Phillip asked, the Audino couldn't come up with a reply, she really messed up this time. "Well." Phillip replied scratching his head. "Can't say a lot of pokemon have done that to me before."

"Please don't be mad." Audino begged again.

Phillip laughed a little. "You need to calm down, i'm not going to get mad at you." Phillip replied calmly.

"Your not?" Audino asked.

"No, like i said before, just as long as you didn't plan to kill me, or planned to steal my stuff, then were fine, alright?" Phillip asked.

The Audino was silent for a minute, she was glad she was off the hook, but at the same time she felt like she should have been punished. "I guess, but what are you going to do now?" The Audino asked.

"Well, i'm going to stay here and watch over you." Phillip replied taking a seat. "Just until your leg and head wounds heal at least."

"Well, it would be nice to have some company." The Audino thought.

"You know, now that i think of it, there is something i'm wondering."

"What's that?" The Audino asked.

"Most of the Audino's i've encountered have usually been in bushes in the plains or at least in a medium temperature, what's an Audino like you doing in the freezing-cold mountains?" Phillip asked.

Audino grew frantic, she needed to make up another story. "Well, i used to live near the base of the mountain, but one day i decided to come up here." Audino replied.

Phillip raised another eyebrow. "Funny, blizzards are common in this area, a body like your wouldn't be able to handle the temperatures, heck, mine barely last 5 minutes out there, even with the heavy clothing."

Audino searched her mind for an excuse. "It was during one of the less bad snow storms, i came into this cave but haven't been able to get out since." She lied.

Phillip still wasn't convinced. "The highest this mountain has been in temperature wise, is only one degree, even then, from this height, i doubt you would have made it, did someone help you or something?" Phillip asked.

"Well, i might have gotten help from a piloswine or two." The Audino replied.

"I still don't know, it still seems highly unlikely to me." Phillip had suspicions about the Audino.

"Well, i'm here aren't I?" The Audino asked.

"Well, i guess that is true." Phillip replied.

"So now it's my turn to ask a question." The Audino spoke up. "What are YOU doing on the mountains?" She asked.

"Oh, me, i'm an assistant to a professor, he sent me up here to collect data about abomasnows and snovers, but since they wouldn't allow me to get near them, i had to pick up droppings and urine left in the snow." Phillip replied.

"Gross." Audino commented.

"Yeah, it's not the most hygienic job, but thank Arceus for gloves." Phillip chuckled.

Phillip picked up the flash light and started to look a bit more around the cave.

"What are you looking for?" The Audino asked.

"This cave, where does it lead to?" Phillip asked.

"Uh, i don't know, i've never gone down it before." The Audino replied.

"One of the first things i noticed was that this cave was significantly warmer than the others, is it possible the air from the base of the mountain is connected to this cave?" Phillip asked.

"I'm not sure, either that or it's just a warm draft." Audino replied.

"A warm draft? Yeah, right, nothing on this mountain is warm, there's just cold, and colder." Phillip replied. "As much as i would like to explore, i don't really want to go alone, for now i think i'll just stay here." Phillip sat back down and set the flashlight to point towards the ceiling.

The Audino shifted again, she still felt a little uncomfortable, it had been so long since she had company that she felt doing one bad thing would make him hate her, she wasn't always like this, she usually was able to make friends easily, and be comfortable while doing it, but that was shattered after the incident with Ronald.

"So, how long have you lived on this mountain?" Phillip asked.

"A couple years." The Audino replied.

"That's quite a while, where do you get your food from?" Phillip asked.

"When the snovers head on their trips down the mountain, they collect numerous berries to bring back to the other pokemon." The Audino replied.

"So the piloswine are like harvesters?" Phillip asked.

"That's one way to put it." The Audino replied.

"Well, that explains the weird behavior." Phillip thought out loud.

"What behavior?" The Audino asked.

"Well, a couple weeks ago some people noticed the snovers kept running up and down the mountain, my professor was supposed to go and check this out, but he sent me instead saying he thought it would be a good "experience" for me." Phillip replied.

"Really, then why did you need those samples?" Audino asked pointing towards the suitcase.

"We thought this might have been the result of some kind of virus or something, either way, i was told to collect it." Phillip replied.

Audino stared at the suitcase. "So, what do you have in there anyway?" Audino asked.

"All kinds of stuff actually, want to see?" Phillip asked.

"Sure!" Audino replied excitingly.

Phillip then proceeded to show the Audino everything his suitcase held, from the vials, to the weird gadgets he had used in his experiments.

"And this is a heart radar." Phillip finished, pulling up a weird box with two antenna's.

"A heart radar?" Audino asked.

"Yeah, i was using it as a detector to find the abomasnows, but it broke someway up the mountain, it was sheer luck that a group of the pokemon were nearby." Phillip replied.

"Really, that's interesting." Audino replied. "Can i try it?"

"Sure, but, it doesn't work." Phillip replied handing her the radar.

Audino took the box in her hands and messed around with the knobs, then she flipped it over taking a look at the back. Everything but the left side looked normal, upon further inspection, she realized it was a plastic flap covering some switches underneath.

"What's all this?" Audino asked.

"I'm not sure, i never figured out what the switches were for, i just messed with them, but nothing worked." Phillip replied.

Audino ran her fingers across the top of the switches, there were four in total, audino started to flip the switches randomly, of course, it seemed like there was no reaction to doing so.

"So, i never got your name?" Audino asked, as she continued to flip the switches.

"Oh, my name is Phillip." He replied.

"Well, i guess i should thank you Phillip, i mean, you are helping me get better." Audino replied.

"Well, it's not like i was just going to leave you here." Phillip replied.

It wasn't until then that Audino flipped a final switch and a buzzing sound was heard.

"What the heck is that?" Audino thought, turning the device over, to her surprise, the screen was glowing a dark green color with two blips on it.

"How did you do that?" Phillip asked.

"I'm not sure, i just flipped some random switches." Audino replied.

Phillips took the radar in his hands, sure enough, it was working perfectly. "Well, that's weird." Phillip thought. "I could have sworn that i had flipped the switches in this exact manner and got nothing." Phillip thought, but just as it had turned on, the radar shut off again. "Ugh, this is what happens when you don't give us enough funding, we have to deal with the most budget-cut devices." Phillip complained flipping the switches, before looking over at Audino. "Do you think you could get it to do that again?" Phillip asked.

"I'm not sure." Audino replied, as she was given the device. Audino did as she did before, but this time nothing happened, eventually she handed it back to Phillip.

"Well, i guess it was just a momentary battery pulse or something." Phillip sighed.

For a moment, neither Phillip or the Audino said anything.

"So, how is the head wound coming along?" Phillip asked.

"I think it stopped bleeding, my ankle is still sore though." Audino replied.

"Well, just to be safe, lets wait a little while." Phillip replied.

"So what's it like where you live?" The Audino asked.

"It's nice, really, i don't have to wear a million coats, and sweaters, i have a warm bed-" Phillip began.

"No, no, no, i mean, whats it like, not temperature wise, just, what does it LOOK, like?" The Audino interrupted.

"Oh, sorry, i guess i just want to get off this mountain. I guess I would say it's... Wide." Phillip replied.

"Wide?" The Audino asked.

"Sure, there are a lot of open spaces, usually occupied by your average day pokemon, the grass is bright, the sun shines most of the time, it's really nice there, of course, saying i spent more time there, maybe i would get to experience it more." Phillip Replied.

"What do you mean?" The Audino asked.

Phillip sighed. "My job, it always sends me out to other places, volcanoes, creepy swamps, ice cold mountains." Phillip replied. "I wanted to be a pokemon professor, i just didn't realize how dangerous the job really is, all the other professors say they had to go through the same thing, of course i wish they told me that BEFORE i got my degree."

"It sounds like you have a pretty terrible job." The Audino pointed out.

"Yeah, but they tell me it gets better one your past the assistant phase, i really hope thats true." Phillip replied. "Because i swear i can barely take more than a week of this."

Audino stared at Phillip, she had more questions to ask him, but noticed he was starting to glaze over.

"Are you alright?" The Audino asked.

"I'm starting to get tired again." Phillip yawned. "I guess the adrenaline from our first meeting is wearing off. For now, i think it's best we both rest." Phillip replied as he piled the rest of the clothes into a second mattress. Phillip adjusted himself so that his body was comfortable enough.

"Hey Phillip?" The Audino spoke up.

"Yes?" Phillip replied.

"Thanks."

Phillip smiled a little bit before turning over. Sleep didn't take long to take him over, drifting off into a long awaited sleep, Phillip was practically in a coma, dreams swirled in his head.

Audino on the other hand, wasn't feeling very tired. Laying awake, staring at a cave ceiling with a sprained ankle, and a head wound, wasn't exactly the best moment of her life. Looking down, Audino decided to check the sprain for herself. Poking lightly at it caused a pain to shoot up her leg, she figured as much, it was going to be hard for her to walk later on. Audino sighed.

"On the plus side, at least i'm not alone in this." Audino thought looking over at Phillip. "He seems nice, at least he didn't yell at me, even when he did find out i was messing with him in his sleep." Audino shifted again. "The only problem is, once i'm all better, he's going to leave, meaning i'm going to be all alone again." Audino sighed.

Audino grabbed on of the sweaters from her mattress, she picked small pieces of lint as she thought of the incident. Audino felt tears start to sting her eyes, putting the sweater to her eyes, Audino started to weep silently. "Why-Why did i have to tell Ronald, i was such an idiot." She thought. Audino would have continued but remembering Phillip was next o her, she didn't want to wake him up, and she certainly didn't want him to see her crying. Calming down, Audino rubbed her eyes with the sweater before sighing. "I can't let it go, not after all that happened, no matter how hard i try." She thought.

Audino wasn't sure how long she had been lying down for, it could have been hours, or minutes. She was growing bored, and sleep seemed to be the last thing on her mind. "I wish Phillip would wake up, or better yet, i wish i wasn't bored." Audino thought, but as the saying goes, be careful what you wish for.

"Hey." Audino snapped back to reality to realize Phillip was awake, smiling lightly. "Hows the ankle?" Phillip asked.

"It doesn't hurt as long as i don't put pressure on it, though i think it's starting to swell at this point." She replied.

"Well that's great here in a couple minutes i think we can start to-" Phillip froze, his eyes were wide and staring at something above Audino.

"What?" Audino asked nervously.

"Whatever you do, don't...move." Phillip instructed.

Audino tried her best to look behind her to see what Phillip was staring at. It was a mightyena that had found it's way up the mountain and into the cave. Based on the thin frame of the mightyena, Audino suspected he hadn't eaten anything in days, but he might have just found himself a two course meal, entree and desert.

"Audino." Phillip whispered catching her attention. "Pull these over yourself, and whatever you hear, don't uncover yourself." Phillip instructed slowly sliding a pile of sweaters he was lying on over to her. Audino did as she was instructed and covered herself while Phillip was left with the mightyena.

"Oh Arceus what am i going to do?" Phillip thought, slowly standing up. "I'm barely in any position to fight."

"I have to say, i'm a little surprised to find a human up here, along with an audino." The mightyena spoke up, focusing his gaze on the pile of clothes, he smirked. "If you honestly think i'm so stupid that I wouldn't notice her, you have been gravely mistaken."

Phillip thought of things to reply. "Look can't we just work something out, a couple of berries or something, i have plenty." Phillip offered.

"I'm a carnivore you fool, not a leaf-eating vegetarian." Mightyena replied angrily.

"Ok, he isn't buying." Phillip thought, his eyes looked over at his briefcase. "That's it, if i can just grab my suitcase, and get a good whack at his head, then that's sure to run him off."

Mightyena was drawing closer to Phillip, ready to make the pounce, Phillip knew he had to time this just right, or else him and the Audino were dinner.

"Your mine!" The Mightyena shouted, jumping for Phillip.

Phillip took a dive towards his left, causing the Mightyena to fly past him and run into the cave wall. Phillip scrambled off the floor and reached his briefcase, closing it shut for maximum effect. Phillip turned around as the Mightyena picked itself off the floor, shaking away the shock, Mightyena charged at Phillip, Phillip took the swing.

Only to miss, Mightyena ducked under the path of the briefcase, when Phillip swung back, the Mightyena caught Phillip's arm in it's mouth, chomping down and drawing blood. Phillip let out of a scream of pain and dropped the suitcase. The Mightyena, having more strength than Phillip estimated, pulled Phillip to the floor, swinging Phillip's arm around like a chew toy, further opening the wound in his hand. Phillip tried to reach for the briefcase, but his hand was to far. The Mightyena saw what Phillip was doing and started to pull Phillip back, away from the suitcase. Phillip knew it was a longshot, but he had no choice. Pulling one of the vials of urine out of his pocket, Phillip swung the Vial at Mightyena. The vial landed directly in Mightyena's eye, causing glass shards and urine to fill his vision. Mightyena let go of Phillip's arm and screamed in pain. Phillip scrambled to his feet and grabbed the briefcase.

"You bitch!" The Mightyena shouted, lunging itself at Phillip.

Phillip swung his arm back, connecting with the Mightyena's jaw, a cracking sound was heard and the Mightyena let out a yelp. Mightyena's redirection flew past Phillip and hit the cave floor. It was then that Phillip saw the most Traumatizing moment in his life. The Mightyena stood back up, blood and glass shards oozed from his left eye, his jaw and tongue hung like clothes from a clothes line. The Mightyena tried to talk, but all that came out was gurgles. Phillip felt like he was going to puke, and was especially grateful Audino wasn't seeing this. Mightyena decided it was time to end this, launching one final lunge at Phillip. Phillip swung his briefcase down, Landing a direct hit to the Mightyena's skull and bashing his head in. The fight was over.

Phillip's arm and clothes were covered in blood, as well as his suitcase. His eyes were wide and his breath was shaky. For a moment Phillip just looked at what he had done.

"Is it safe to come out?" Audino asked nervously. Phillip didn't reply, his actions weighed on him like an anvil, he just killed a pokemon, and in the process, made him suffer. "Phillip?" The Audino asked again.

"Don't come out!" Phillip shouted. Phillip tried to remove his suitcase, but it was lodged deep in the Mightyena's skull. "Oh Arceus forgive me." Phillip begged, making a hard tug, a cracking sound was heard and the suitcase was freed from the Mightyena's skull, the sight of Phillip's actions was enough. Running to the wall, Phillip collapsed to his knees, and hurled.

This was as much as Audino could take, she needed to know if Phillip was safe. Lifting the coats off of her, Audino was met with a horrible sight. The Mightyena's dead body.

Audino froze, she had never seen such a horrible way to die, Audino turned over to avoid looking at the mess any longer, however she had seen to much, the vision would last, and bring many nightmares later in life.

"Phillip, wha-what did you do." Audino asked in a shaky voice.

Phillip was silent, except for his breathing. "I told you... Not to come out." Phillip replied.

"I had to see that you were safe." Audino replied.

"I think saying not to come out was a sure sign i was fine!" Phillip shouted.

Both him and Audino were quiet, Phillip shakily stood up. "Are you alright?" Phillip asked.

Audino didn't reply for a minute. "I'm fine." She replied quietly.

Phillip let out a sigh of relief. "I didn't want you to look because i didn't want you to see what you did. I didn't mean to yell it's just... I'm not proud of what i did." Phillip continued. "I just didn't want you to think i was some kind of monster."

Audino was quiet, Phillip didn't say anything either. Grabbing the rest of the pile of clothes from his pile, Phillip covered the Mightyena's body, as a cover for his deed, and as a grave for the pokemon.

When Phillip was done, he took a look at his arm, it was bleeding quite profusely, it needed to be tended to quickly. Phillip opened up his bloodstained suitcase and pulled out the gauze, wrapping it around his arm to help stop the bleeding. Phillip used the spare pin he had to keep the gauze in place, letting out a sigh, Phillip put the gauze back in it's place, and closed the suitcase.

"I don't think we should stay here." Phillip advised.

"Then where should we go?" Audino asked, not bothering to look his way.

"If my theory is correct, this cave should lead to the base of the mountain, that's where all this warm air is coming from, if we can continue down this way, then maybe i can find the exit, and you can be more safe from danger, i certainly don't want... "that" again."

Audino thought about it a minute before agreeing. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to go a little deeper." She replied.

"Great, then we better get going now, think you can sit up?" Phillip asked.

"Yeah, why?" Audino asked.

"I'm going to lift you onto my back, i don't want you walking with that ankle." Phillip replied.

Audino looked at Phillip and noticed the bandage on his arm. "What happened?" Audino asked, concerned.

Phillip looked at the bandage. "It's nothing serious, just a small wound i had to patch up." Phillip replied.

Audino didn't seem very convinced it was a small wound.

Phillip sat in front of Audino and instructed for her to grab onto his shoulders, she did so, Phillip then hooked his arms so that they were under her legs, standing up, Phillip checked to make sure she was safe enough on his back. "Alright, ready?" Phillip asked.

"What about your stuff?" Audino asked.

Phillip looked over at his clothes and the bloody suitcase. "Their not as important, i can come back for them later." Phillip replied. Phillip walked past the covered body of the Mightyena and shuddered, trying his best to shove the event out of his head. Phillip continued to walk down the cave, making sure not to slip, without arm support, it wouldn't end well with either of them. The Audino laid her head on the back of Phillip's neck, she had been quite for some time now.

"Phillip." She eventually spoke up.

"Yes?" Phillip asked, continuing his way down the dark cave.

"I-I never said thank you." Audino replied.

"For what?" Phillip asked.

"For saving me... From the Mightyena. It's just, at the time, and what happened..." Audino replied, trailing off.

"It's alright, if i didn't do anything, we both would have paid for it." Phillip sighed. "I just wish it could have ended better, i didn't mean to do it, i was just supposed to scare him away."

"It was what you had to do, and personally, even if it didn't end well, i'm at least glad your safe." Audino replied.

Phillip looked back at the pokemon, a smile came across the face. "I guess the same could be said for both of us." He replied, looking back at the road ahead.

"You know, it's actually funny." Audino spoke up.

"What?" Phillip asked curiously.

"How we met. I rummaged through your stuff, got caught, got an ankle sprain and a head wound." Audino replied.

"Then i came and fixed you up, we talked, i told you about my profession." Phillip continued. "I guess you could say fate has a weird way of getting people to make friends."

Audino didn't reply, but a couple seconds later Phillip felt the back of his neck get wet. "Is something wrong?" Phillip asked with concern.

"It's just..." Audino began with sadness in her voice. "Once i'm all fixed up, your probably going to leave me, and, after all that's happened..." Audino couldn't finish her sentence.

Phillip knew what she was talking about, and she knew as well as he did that he couldn't keep her, his worldly travels, his dangerous job, the time his job took from his life, there would be no time for raising an Audino.

Phillip sighed. "Rather than focusing on the future, why don't we focus on the present." Phillip advised, trying to change the subject. "Are you sure you haven't been further down this cave?" Phillip asked.

"Yes, i'm sure, iv'e just hung hung around the top part." Audino replied.

Phillip was starting to wonder if he was making a good decision, if he kelt going and it turned out to be a dead end, he would be setting himself back for a day or two, a day or two he didn't have, by then, the blizzard would be too powerful for him to get through, and who knows how long it would take for it to calm down.

"Phillip?" Audino asked.

"Huh, what?" Phillip replied snapping back to reality.

"What are you worried about?" Audino asked.

Phillip was slightly confused, but then felt something thin rubbing against his skin, she had been using her feelers to sense his feelings.

"I'm-i'm just worried about this path, if this doesn't lead to the base of the mountain, i'm in a lot of trouble." Phillip replied.

"How so?" Audino asked.

"The blizzards are acting up again, and by now, i have already lost too much time, if i don't find an exit in this cave, i'm going to be here for a long time." Phillip replied.

"I wouldn't mind that." Audino thought sadly.

Phillip and the Audino continued to walk down the cave, it wasn't long however, before he noticed something, out of the corner of his eye, Phillip noticed a tent.

"Wait a second." Phillip pointed out. "That's a campsite."

"I was hoping he wouldn't find this spot." Audino thought.

Phillip walked closer to the camp, worried of any lurking predators, when everything seemed safe, he let Audino off of his back, and set her down by a makeshift fireplace.

"Someone's been here before." Phillip thought. "But if someone has been here before, then that means...THERE MUST BE ANOTHER WAY IN HERE!" Phillip became excited that he had a way to get out besides stomping out in the snow, he decided not to tell Audino, as to not think he wanted to abandon her.

"Are you sure no one came through these mountains through this cave?" Phillip asked.

"Not really, i switch between caves every now and then." Audino replied. Phillip wasn't sure, but the Audino looked like she was uncomfortable in this place. "I think we can stop here, we have been traveling for a while, and my legs are getting tired." Phillip took a spot next to Audino. "You wouldn't happen to know flamethrower would you?" Phillip asked looking at the fireplace.

The Audino shook her head. "I'm not really much of an elemental type." She replied.

"Figures, the one time i decide to leave matches in my suitcase we find a campfire, it's going to be annoying walking back up the cave without a flashlight for my stuff." Phillip thought out loud.

"Well, maybe there are some lying around, did you check the tent for matches?" Audino asked.

"Well, no, but i doubt anyone left anything here, this place looks like an ancient ruin, only more modern." Phillip replied. Phillip decided to check, it was better than just sitting in the dark. Phillip looked inside the tent first. Phillip was met with a surprise when he noticed that it looked like someone had been living here. Lying on the ground were bags carrying supplies. It looked like some of the typical hiker stuff. Food, water, additional clothing...

"A pokedex?" Phillip thought when his hand brushed across the familiar red casing. Pulling it out revealed it to be one of the newest models from pallet town.

"This wasn't a hikers campsite, it was a trainers, but if that's true, how come audino seemed so surprised to see a human?" Phillip thought. "I would have figured that she would have at least seen them come up the mountain." Phillip searched deeper and found a box of matches. "These will come in handy." He thought putting them into his pocket. "Now we just need some wood for the fire." Phillip searched the bag, but found nothing that would keep a fire burning for a good while. Phillip stood up and walked out of the tent, Audino seemed a little worried when he noticed her staring at the pokedex in his hand.

"What's wrong?" Phillip asked.

"Nothing." Audino replied quickly. "I'm just still in a little aftershock after what happened earlier." She lied.

Phillip was sure the Audino was lying.

"Well, either way, we need a way to light this fire." Phillip replied.

"There wasn't anything in the tent?" The Audino asked.

"No, just spoiled food, but in the plus side i found the matches." Phillip replied.

"So i guess that means were not going to be starting a fire?" Audino asked.

"Well, i do have one idea, but it's a little weird." Phillip replied.

"Really?" Audino asked. "What is it?"

"Well, all the coats i had befoee could be used as a fire started, since it's warm in this cave, then that means i won't be needing them anymore, plus since they are pretty much raggy from the excessive use and tear, they won't be of any use to me after this journey is done." Phillip replied.

"Doesn't that mean that you will have to go all the way back up the cave to get your stuff?" Audino asked.

Phillip sighed. "Yes, but, at least we can have some form of light beside my flashlight, plus i can get a better look at the campsite this way."

"Don't you want to sit down for a while at least, you did just get here after all?" Audino asked.

"I'm used to sore legs by now, i think i can make a quick run, think you will be fine here on your own?" Phillip asked.

"Yes." Audino replied.

"Great, i'll be back in a little bit." Phillip replied, walking into the darkness of the cave.

Audino sighed once Phillip was out of sight. "i was hoping i wouldn't see this place again." She thought, looking at the abandoned camp sight. "It's been so long, but, why does it feel like yesterday, why couldn't i have just shut my big fat mouth, i should have just kept it a secret, but nooo, i had to say it." Audino sighed, her life was great, then came the Ronald incident, she knew she had to tell Phillip sometime, he was bound to find out anyway, with that pokedex, he could easily find it out himself.

Phillip fiddled around with the casing of the pokedex, it hadn't been used in a long time, and seemed to have a hard time turning on.

"Come on." Phillip begged as the screen started up for the third time, it got to the poke entry's before cutting off again. "Figures." Phillip thought. "Anytime i'm around electronics they break, it's like i'm a portable EMP."

Phillip sighed and just put the pokedex away, he knew he would see his old campsite soon. It was just a matter of time. "Hey mister." A voice called out, making him jump." Phillip looked around but saw nothing around him. "Up here." The voice called.

Phillip looked up and saw a zubat hanging from the ceiling. "What the." Phillip thought out loud.

"You know, you really shouldn't be surprised, my kind are common in caves y'know." The zubat commented.

"I know but, how long have you been hanging up there?" Phillip asked.

"Before you made your first run down there." The Zubat replied.

"Wait, you were watching me?" Phillip asked.

"Not like there is anything else to do around here." The Zubat replied.

"The least you could of done was say something." Phillip remarked.

"You looked busy." The Zubat replied.

Phillip sighed. "Look, i really need to get going, i'm looking for something."

"To get back to your old campsite, so that you can get your old clothes to start a fire for that audino?" The zubat asked.

Phillip just stared at the zubat. "How did you-"

"Remember when i said there wasn't much to do around here?" The zubat replied.

"Look, it doesn't matter i need to get going." Phillip replied, starting to walk off.

"Wait, i might be able to tell you more about her." The zubat offered.

"Oh yeah, like what?" Phillip scoffed.

"Like how she REALLY got on this mountain." The zubat replied.

Phillip eyed the pokemon for a second. "And in exchange i would give?" Phillip asked.

"Just a couple berries." The zubat replied. Phillip grabbed a few berries out of his left pocket and passed them to the Zubat, the zubat gulped them down and let out a sigh of satisfaction. "Alright, so here is what really happened." The zubat began. "A while back i was sitting in this cave minding my own buisness, when all of a sudden, i see this human come into the cave, around his belt there were a couple of those poke-watchamajigi's"

"You mean a pokeball." Phillip corrected.

"Yeah those." He replied. "Well anyway, the human came into the cave and started to set up camp, it was then that he let out his pokemon. A cofagrigus, lucario, blaziken, and an audino."

"Well what happened then?" Phillip asked.

A grin came across the Zubat's face. "Why don't you ask her yourself." The zubat replied, flying off.

Phillip frowned, he knew the Audino would never say it was her, and he didn't really have a reason to trust the Zubat, but what if he was telling the truth, that would explain the pokedex, also, how she knew the matches were in the tent, and why she was nervous when she saw the pokedex. "Guess there is only one way to find out." Phillip thought, continuing his walk to his old campsite.

"He's been gone a long time." Audino thought. "It feels like he's been almost gone for 2 hours. I'm sure he would have gotten back by now."

Audino looked at her leg once again, the swelling was evident at this point, it was going to take a while before it went down. "I hope he at least stays long enough for my leg to fully heal." She thought.

"Miss me?" A voice called out, catching Audino's attention.

Phillip was walking toward the campsite with a pile of clothes over one of his shoulders and his breifcase in the other. "What took so long?" Audini asked.

"Oh, uh, i just...got a little turned around, that's all." Phillip replied unconvincingly.

"Well, i'm glad i don't have ti be alone anymore." The Audino smiled.

"Yeah, about that, i meant to ask you, have you ever seen this?" Phillip asked, putting down the suitcase, and taking the pokedex out of his pocket.

Audino gulped. "No, do you know what it is?" Audino asked, looking away.

"Yes, it's a pokedex, it belongs to a pokemon trainer, are you sure there wasn't anyone up here before?" Phillip asked.

"I already told you, i haven't seen anyone come up here." Audino replied.

Phillip sighed, and let the clothes fall from his shoulder. "Not, yet." He thought. "Just give her more time, she is bound to say something."

"So." Phillip spoke up. "What do you say we get this campfire going?" Phillip asked.

"That would be nice." Audino replied.

Phillip threw the coats and sweaters in to the campfire, grabbing the matchbox from his pocket, he lit one and held it over the campfire. "Pray this works." Phillip dropped the match, for the first couple of seconds nothing happened, then a small fire arouse from the pile.

"Yes!" Audino cheered.

After a while the coats became a full fire, usually requiring another coat every now and again to keep the fire burning. Phillip sat next to the Audino, neither of them had talked since he had started the fire. "Please don't make this difficult for me, please just admit something." Phillip thought. Phillip once again pilled out the pokedex. Audino tried her best to avoid looking at it.

"You know, you always seem to get nervous when i pull is thing out." Phillip pointed out.

"What, no i don't." The Audino replied.

"Yes, you do, you try to avoid looking at it, you get nervous when i pull it out, whenever i question you about it, your voice gets a little shaky." Phillip pointed out.

"Coincidence?" Audino replied unconvincingly.

Phillip sighed and let the pokedex drop to his side. "Alright Audino, i tried doing this the easy way." Phillip shook his head.

"What do you mean?" Audino replied nervously.

"When i went to get my coats." Phillip began shifting his weight so he was looking at her. "I met a zubat, he told me that a long time ago, a trainer came into these mountains, through this cave, he also told me he had a couple pokemon, one of them was an Audino."

"So, that doesn't mean it was me, zubat's have terrible eyesight." Audino replied.

"But it's kind of hard to mistake an Audino." Phillip replied.

"Well... Well... Maybe he's lying." Audino retorted, in a last attempt to get him to believe it wasn't her.

"Audino, i helped you when you were injured, i didn't get mad when you did all that stuff to me, i'm not asking much, i just want to know the truth, that's it." Phillip replied calmly.

Audino sighed, knowing he had a point, and there was no way he was going to believe her if she kept up the act.

"Alright, fine, but, would you mind if i sat in your lap?" Audino asked.

"Uh, why?" Phillip asked.

"If i'm going to tell this story, i'm going to need someone to keep me together in case i breakdown." Audino replied sadly.

Phillip agreed, picking her up and setting her down in his lap.

Audino took in a deep breath of air.

"A couple years ago." Audino began. "I had a trainer, he was nice, he was the only trainer that didn't launch his pokemon out to attack me on first sight. When we first met, he offered me some of his spare berries, which i gladly accepted. We played a little bit, and in return, he captured me and took me across different parts of the world, over time i came to learn more about him, and in turn, developed a crush on him."

"Then what happened?" Phillip asked.

"Give me a second." She replied.

"Sorry." Phillip replied.

Audino took in another breath of air before continuing. "His name was ronald, and he aimed to be the best pokemon trainer he could be, he was widely accepted in the community, and her followe all the rules, but there was one he specifically followed."

"Which was?" Phillip asked.

Audino shot him a look, Philip apologized again and allowed Audino to continue. "He had a lot of hatred towards pokephillia and pokephiles." It was then that Phillip knew where this was going. "The more time went by, the more my crush turned into love, and the more i loved him, the more my secret grew, it eventually became so big that it was starting to effect my performance. One day when we came into this cave, he took me out of my pokeball, and... He asked me what was wrong." Phillip started to notice tears forming on the rim of Audino's eyeballs. "I had no choice... I told him... He got angry, calling me mean and dirty things... He told me i was an idiot, a waste of a life, a whore-"

"Audino, stop." Phillip urged. But he didn't need to tell her, by now she had broken into tears, crying to Phillips shirt. Phillip rubbed her head and kept a firm hold on her, in his best attempt to calm her down. Eventually her crying subsided, but she kept her place in Phillips shirt, not willing to move. Phillip couldn't help but feel awful.

"Audino." He spoke up. "I'm sorry, i shouldn't have asked, i had no idea-"

"It's not your fault." Audino sighed, taking a deep breath. "It's mine, i was an idiot for opening my big mouth."

"That's not true." Phillip replied. "If anyone is to blame here, it's Ronald. You poured out your guts to him and he reacted in an unnecessary way, he had no right calling you those names."

"Thanks." She replied. "But what's done is done, and Ronald's long gone."

"So what happened to Ronald?" Phillip asked.

"I'm not sure, on the last night before he disappeared, he was talking to the others about finding my replacement on this mountain, he never came back for bis stuff the next morning, or the day after that, i never knew what happened, he probably still hates me." Audino replied.

A headline flashed in Phillip's mind, he gulped as he remembered it's title. "_Two young trainers killed in avalanche." _Two trainers were battling when a herd of mamoswine trampled them running from an avalanche, the avalanche piled over them, killing any of the survivors. One of them was a kid named jones, the other was Langton "Ronald" Schneider

"Audino." Phillip spoke up, worry in his voice.

"What?" Audino asked.

"Ronald's dead." He replied sadly. Audino looked at Phillip with a look of shock. "He was killed in an avalanche, his pokemon were found dead as well."

Audino sat in silence, unable to believe what she was hearing. For years she thought she was just abandoned, but now that she knew the truth, she felt even worse, if she never told him, he would not have got out to look for her replacement, he never would have been killed.

"It's all my fault." She whispered.

"It is not, you had nothing to do with his death." Phillip responded.

Audino looked at the ground. "If that's true, then why did he go outside the cave?" Audino asked.

"He went to find your replacement." Phillip responded. "It was his choice."

"Yes, but what i did caused him to make that choice." Audino replied.

"It was his own outlook on the situation that made him do it." Phillip replied.

"The outlook i caused him to have." Audino replied.

"Audino look at me." Phillip urged.

Audino tilted her head to look at Phillip. "What do i have to do to make you believe that you had nothing to do with his death?" He asked.

"There is nothing you can do, it's all my fault he did it." Audino replied, turning her head back to the ground.

Phillip was determined to make her see his part of the argument, but he had come up short, he had only one last resort. "It's a long shot, but if i can kill a mightyena with a vial of urine, i can convince her his death wasn't her fault." He thought.

"Audino look at me." Phillip urged once again.

"What is it now Phillip?" She asked looking back at him, her response was met with Phillip kissing her, he made sure to pure as much into it as he could. For a moment Audino was stunned before giving in, audino did her best to throw her arms around Phillip neck.

Phillip eventually withdrew and took in a breath of air. "Audino you had nothing to do with his death, by Arceus, you had a right to tell him your feelings, if he decided to go out and get himself killed looking for a replacement, then it's his own damn fault, you had nothing to do with it." Phillip argued.

Audino was silent for a moment. "Y-you really think so?" Audino asked.

"I know so." Phillip replied.

Audino was silent for a moment, in a swift movement, she threw her arms around Phillip the best she could. "Thanks Phillip." She replied.

Phillip returned the hug. "No problem." He replied. "Now what do you say we take a nap, after all that's happened, i think i'm going to need to refuel in order to continue down this cave."

Audino smiled. "I think that would be nice." She replied.

Phillip picked up the Audino and carried her to the tent, since Ronald had left behind his sleeping bag, there was no need for the sweaters. Phillip was actually surprised there was enough room for both him and the Audino.

"Phillip." The Audino spoke up. "I'm going to miss you when this is all over." Audino wrapped her arms around Phillip.

Phillip brought her closer to him. "Me to." He replied sadly.

Phillip allowed the Audino to fall asleep in his arms before he did. He really did wish he could adopt her, but his job was too dangerous and took up too much time, he just wished he was past his assistant phase so that he could take the less dangerous jobs.

Phillip fell asleep quickly, being practically exhausted and all. And in all the time he had been on the mountain, he finally felt like he could sleep easy.

when Phillip reopened his eyes he could have sworn that something wasn't right, Audino was right next to him, sound asleep, yet something didn't feel right. Phillip slowly got up and headed towards the tent flap, pulling it open Phillip took a look at the surroundings outside.

The fire had gone out and it was dark once again, Phillip searched his pockets and realized he left his flashlight outside next to his briefcase, pulling the tent flap open some more Phillip slowly made his way over to his briefcase, grabbing the flashlight, Phillip cranked it a few times before turning it on. Searching around the cave just showed the cave walls and stalagmites hanging from the ceiling. Phillip could have sworn he felt something out here. When Phillip was just about to leave he heard a low growl. Phillip stopped dead in his tracks and his hands began to shake, slowly turning around, Phillip's light shined across a familiar grey and black dog with red eyes.

"That's impossible, i killed you!" Phillip shouted.

"You didn't kill me, you killed my brother!" The Mightyena replied.

Phillip grew stiff, his body began to grow cold, this Mightyena looked much more fit than his brother, even with a suitcase, he wouldn't be able to take it down.

"Any last words?" Mightyena asked, slowly stalking forward.

Phillip tried to call out for help, but his throat seized up in fear, only releasing a small squeak.

The Mightyena pounced, crunching it's teeth around Phillip's neck.

Phillip shot up and clenched his chest. Looking around, he realized he was back in his tent, hard breaths coming from him, it was only a nightmare.

"Phillip?" Audino called, making Phillip jump. "Is everything ok?" She asked.

"Yes." Phillip replied. "It was only a nightmare, that's all."

"Really, what was it about?" Audino asked.

Phillip was silent for a second. "It's nothing, really, just go back to sleep."

"Come on, just tell me." Audino pleaded.

"Audino, it's fine, really." Phillip tried to reassure.

"Look, you've helped me so far, why can't i just help you?" She asked.

Phillip sighed. "Alright, fine, i had a dream, it was a dream in which the Mightyena i killed had a brother, he was bigger and more fit, he lunged for my neck, and that was it."

Phillip expected the Audino to reply with "it was only a dream." Or "that's it?" But was surprised when he felt two small arms try to wrap around him.

"I understand it was scary for you." She replied. "If i was in your situation i probably would be having nightmares too. But you did it to protect us, and that's what matters, right?" She asked.

"Yeah, but, i can't help but feel terrible, i just killed a pokemon, when all i was trying to do was chase him off." Phillip replied.

"It happens sometimes, you won't believe how many times i've seen pokemon die in the cold weather, or trainers who were found dead out in the wild, maimed by the pokemon you protected us from." Audino replied. "It was your natural instinct Phillip, you were justified to do what you did, and there isn't anything wrong with that."

A flash of the Mightyena with blood and glass oozing from his eye passed through Phillips mind, the torture the pokemon felt must have been excruciating. "Maybe it's not the fact that i killed him, maybe it's more the fact i made him suffer."

"You did what you had too, even if he did suffer, at least you ended it quickly afterward." Audino replied.

Phillip was still silent for a minute, the image kept replaying itself in his mind, but he did realize Audino had a point, it was in self-defense, and it was short lived. Phillip put his hand on one of Audino's. "Thanks." He whispered.

Audino smiled. "Glad to help." She replied.

Audino pulled away from the hug and laid back down, Phillip didn't move, rather began to stare off into space, his mind wondering between the recent conflicts he recently had been through, he knew coming to the mountains would be an experience, but this wasn't the experience he was expecting. Phillip took a look at his bandaged arm, pulling the pin and slowly unwrapping the gauze revealed the wound he got fighting the Mightyena. Phillip inspected the wound, the holes almost went completely through his arm, he couldn't help but think of what he was fighting for that entire time. "I've been doing all of this for her." He thought looking at the Audino. "No doubt this is going to leave a scar, but, what is that scar going to represent? The time i saved the Audino's life, helped her get better, and then repaid her by leaving her in this dark cave all by herself for who knows how much longer." Phillip started to get angry at himself. "All she wants is for someone to love her like how she wanted her trainer too, but thanks to my job..." Phillip lets his arm fall back to his lap. "My job, all the sacrifice's i've put in it, the challenges i had to go through, every bit of sweat and blood, went into making me a professor, but i'm so close to it, and now this Audino is here, and i'm left with a choice." Phillip argued with himself the advantages of each side, but everything just came to a stalemate, he realized he needed to let Audino know one last thing if he did plan to leave her.

"Audino." Phillip spoke up.

"Hm?" She replied.

"I need to tell you something about my life."

The Audino rolled over and looked at Phillip. "What is it?" She asked curiously.

"When i was little." He began. "I grew up in a very rough family. My dad was an Alcoholic, my Mother complained and forced me to be every bit of perfect she could make me, my older brother was in jail on a life sentence for murder. Every day i would wake up, my dad and mom would be arguing over something, whether it would be little or big. My dad drank beer all the time, spewing drunken foul-language sentences, calling his co-workers "jackasses" or "cock-sucking pussies" he would never spend time with the family, my mother, she spent a lot of time in my parents bedroom, i would often time hear her crying, but when she wasn't she was yelling at me because i was doing something wrong, calling me "worthless" or "a mistake". At times, i just wished there was someone their with me, someone who i could call a brother, sister, or even a friend."

"You didn't have any friends?" Audino asked.

"No, my entire family was considered to be trash, dirty, and something nobody wanted, or be like. Everywhere i went i was ridiculed and shunned, when i raised my hand in class and got a question right, i could hear teachers mumble it was a lucky guess, throughout my life, i had one glimmer of hope, an old pokeball my brother left when he was sent away, it may not have been much, but it was the only thing that didn't yell or call me names and actually felt like a friend to me, i held onto it for most of my childhood."

"What happened to it?" Audino asked.

"One evening i was sitting in bed, marveling at it, telling it some of my events from that day when my mother burst into my room and yelled at me for missing a spot on one of the dishes, she noticed the pokeball in my hand and yanked it from me, shouting that i shouldn't be playing with garbage, she threw it at the wall, and broke it to pieces, she broke the last bit of hope i had in my life. Up until the moment i left home, everything went down hill in my life, i was depressed, barely ate, completely removed myself from society. That's all i could do at the time, lay in a dark room and hide when i heard my parents coming. At the first chance i had, i moved out, i moved from the Kanto region to the Unova region, i wanted to be as far away from my parents as i could. From there things got a little better, my life became better, i took up studies in Pokemon, learned about how modern day technology worked, got my degree, made some friends, then took this job."

"And you haven't seen your parents again?" Audino asked.

"Never, last i heard, my parents finally divorced a few months after i moved here." Phillip replied. Phillip was quiet for a few more minutes before speaking again. "There is a reason i'm telling you this, I want you to know the hardships it took for me to get my job, that's the reason i haven't quite, it took me so much to get their i'm not willing to give up now." Audino wasn't sure what to respond with, she had no idea how much it really took for him to get where he was. "The reason i'm not going to leave after this is because my job is more dangerous than you think, i travel a lot, i wouldn't want you to get hurt or lost, and if i left you at the laboratory then we wouldn't be able to do anything together, my job would take up most of my time and i would just be exhausted when i got home, so really, i wouldn't be raising you, i would just be leaving and seeing you on occasion. And personally, that's not what i really want."

"But won't you spend more time at the laboratory when you get out of the assistant phase?" Audino asked.

"Yes, but who knows how long that will be, months, years, it would take way to long to estimate."

Phillip replied

Audino sighed. "Actually, i wouldn't mind." Phillip looked at the pokemon curiously. "Just as long as you came back, i wouldn't mind waiting at the laboratory, sure, it might get boring, but it has to be better than here, even if you weren't raising me, you at least have someone to return too when you got back."

It was Philip's turn to be quiet this time. He brought Audino closer to him and embraced it. "I guess i never really thought of it that way." He replied.

"So, does this mean you will take me after all?" Audino asked.

"I'm still not sure." Phillip replied. "I'm still going to have to think about this."

"Well, whatever decision you make." Audino yawned. "I know you'll have your reasons."

Phillip watched as the Audino fell asleep in his arms, still unable to go to sleep, Phillip continued to weigh his options, each end had it's advantages and disadvantages.

"Oh Arceus, my kingdom for a decision." He thought impatiently.

Phillip sighed, nothing was going to make his decision at this point, he would just have to wait, taking a look at his arm, Phillip looked at the watch on his wrist, it currently read 7:30 am, time to move.

"Audino." He called out, shaking the small Audino.

"What?" She asked drowsily.

"Come on, we need to get going." Phillip replied getting up. "Here are a couple berries for breakfast, make sure to eat fast, i'm not sure how much of this cave is left."

"Not much." Audino replied, taking the berries. "Last i remembered, the last thing in our way is a steep slope."

"Joy, just what we need." Phillip thought.

When both had finished eating, Phillip propped the Audino on his back, on his way out, made sure to grab his suitcase before moving on ahead.

"So how long do you remember this path being?" Phillip asked.

"Not sure." Audino replied. "All i remember is that it's a short trek before reaching the opening."

Phillip was excited he was almost off the Arceus forsaken rock, he had enough of it from day 1. Phillip trekked for what seemed like 30 minutes before arriving at the slope, but when he looked over it he got a nasty surprise. The slope was steep for sure, but the worst part was, it was high, high enough you couldn't see the bottom.

"How long did it take you to get up this slope?" Phillip asked nervously.

"I'm not sure." Audino replied, nervous as well. "Our trainer pulled us back in when we arrived, the next time i came out we were at the top."

Phillip decided to experiment and placed his briefcase on the slope, letting go, Phillip let the briefcase slide down the hill, gaining speed.

"Now we wait for a sound." Phillip thought.

Leaning an ear, Phillip listened for a sound, 5 seconds past, then 10, then 15.

It was a full thirty seconds before the slightest sound came back.

"This might take longer than i thought." Phillip spoke up.

"Well, maybe it won't be that hard." Audino replied.

"Well, you can't climb with that foot, and i'm not exactly the strongest person, so if we take this path, we would be taking a real risk, are you sure there is no other way around?" Phillip asked.

"Not that i know of." Audino replied.

"Great..." Phillip replied. "Well, i can't waste any time, we have to do this whether we like it or not, do you mind clinging to my back?" Phillip asked.

"Not like i haven't been doing it this whole time." Audino replied.

Phillip just rolled his eyes and inserted himself into position on the slope, digging his fingers in revealed that the wall was a thick slope of gravel.

Phillip started to slowly descend down the gravel slope, making sure not to slip, the fact his weight had not started to drag him down was somewhat of a miracle.

"So how deep do you think the slope is?" Audino asked.

"To be honest." Phillip replied. "Probably deep enough i don't want to talk about it, but i know once i reach the bottom i'm going to be exhausted."

Phillip was able to climb down the slope a decent feat before his body started to burn.

"Please tell me you see the bottom." Phillip begged Audino.

Audino looked down before replying. "No, why."

"It might not be important now, but you might want to be prepared in case we slip." Phillip advised.

Phillip continued down the wall, each second he descended brought more pain in his muscles, eventually leading to exhaustion, he realized he couldn't go any further down, unless he wanted to faint.

"Do you... See the ground... Yet." Phillip breathlessly asked.

Audino looked down. "No." She replied in a worried tone.

Phillip looked back up, the ledge was long gone, and he didn't know how much longer he had before he got to the bottom.

"Audino, were going to have to slide with the Gravel." Phillip advised.

"What? But we would be too fast when we hit the ground, we would get pancaked." She replied.

"It's our only option, if i continue like this, i'm eventually going to faint, if i faint, were going to experience much worse." Phillip replied. "It's the only choice we have."

Audino looked at the black mist below, worried. "Are you sure about this?" Audino asked.

"No." Phillip replied.

Audino gulped. "Well if you think it's the only way, then..."

Audino didn't go on, Phillip just nodded, slowly removing his hand from the gravel, Phillip started to slowly drift down the slope, picking up more and more speed the longer he kept skidding.

"Arceus, I'm going to get us killed." Phillip thought.

Phillip occasionally planted his hand in the gravel to slow them down, but they were eventually going fast enough it was hurting just to slow down. It was 15 seconds before Phillip started to faintly see the ground, and they were approaching fast.

Phillip dug his fingers in to slow down, but pulled them back when he felt them sting from the impact of the gravel. Still seeing the ground coming towards them quick, Phillip dug his fingers into the gravel again, and held it in despite the pain, unfortunately, the ground was still coming up too quick. At this point Phillip dug in both fingers.

Both of them were writhing in agony. But the ground was still coming up quick.

"Hang on tight." Phillip advised.

When the ground finally reached them, Phillip and Audino separated, Phillip felt pain sting through his legs, he could hear Audino let out moans.

"Are you alright?" Phillip asked.

"Yeah, just a little dazed." Audino replied. "What about you?"

"Give me a minute." He replied rubbing his legs. The pain still surging through his feet.

"You didn't break anything did you?" Audino asked, when she noticed Phillip rubbing his leg.

"No, just a really bad fall, that's all." He grunted. Phillip started to stand up, wobbling a little from the shock of the fall. Phillip checked his surrounding, it appeared that they were safe, but off in the distance of the cave, he could see a faint light. "I don't believe it." He whispered.

Phillip picked up the Audino, and continued to carry her until he reached the light. When the fresh wind hit his face, Phillip never felt happier.

"We made it!" He cheered.

Audino chuckled, before looking at the view, they were still somewhat on the mountain, but that would be a piece of cake compared to what they had been through. What Audino was really was paying attention too, was the forest. "It's been so long since i've seen one." Audino thought.

The view was really magnificent, but there was still one thing that needed to be decided.

"Phillip?" Audino asked. "Have you made your choice?"

Phillip didn't reply, his smile turned to a frown, he knew he would have to pick eventually.

"Audino, before i can answer that, i have to ask, how long would you be willing to wait?" Phillip asked.

"Wait for what?" Audino asked.

"For me to return, from any trip i go on." He replied.

"As long as it takes." She replied.

Phillip was silent for a minute.

"Then i guess that's a yes from me." He replied smiling.

Audino was overjoyed, hugging Phillip, Phillip chuckled. "Alright, well, we better get going, it's probably going to be a couple hours before we get to town."

**3 years later...**

Audino waited anxiously waited at an airport with one of Phillip's friends for Phillip's return, today was the day he returned from his 5 month trip to the hoenn region forest.

"Geez, come down, i know your excited, but i don't think you need to be jumping in your seat." Phillip's friend chuckled.

"I can't wait, it's been 5 months." Audino replied.

"I'm excited too, but you don't see me jumping up and down." He replied.

The intercom suddenly rang throughout the building, alerting the plane from hoenn just arrived, Audino excitedly jumped from her seat. Phillip's friend followed her to make sure she didn't get lost. When they arrived at the gate Audino looked at every single passenger boarding off.

"No, no, no." She muttered as each person past.

Then a person wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans came out.

"Phillip!" The Audino shouted. Phillip cocked his head up from a book he was reading and looked over just in time to be ambushed by an Audino.

"Hey, it's been a while." Phillip chuckled, rubbing Audino's head.

"Hey, Phillip." Phillip's friend greeted.

"Hey frank." Phillip greeted back.

"So Phillip, what are we going to do first?" Audino asked.

Phillip chuckled. "First we need to get my baggage, then we can talk about that, also, i have a surprise."

Audino's eyes light up.

Phillip grabbed his baggage off of a conveyer which consisted of a briefcase and a gym bag.

When they got outside, frank hailed for a taxi.

"Aren't we driving with you?" Phillip asked.

"Nah, you guys have been away for a while, thought it would be a good time to give you guys some privacy before you get to the lab." Frank replied.

"Thanks frank." Phillip nodded.

Frank nodded back, Walking off.

When Phillip and Audino got in the taxi, they noticed it had a window separating them from the driver. The Driver slide back a small opening and ask for the location, Phillip told him and the driver slid the opening back, giving them privacy.

"It's so nice to have you back after 5 months." Audino sighed, hugging Phillip.

"Same here, you don't know how badly you miss a bed before you accidentally place your sleeping bag over a durant hill." Phillip joked.

Audino giggled. "So what was that surprise you had?" Audino asked.

"Well, why i was in the hoenn forest, i got a call from the university." Phillip replied. "Looks like i might be spending more time around here."

"That wonderful." Audino cheered.

Phillip chuckled, and sighed. "Yes, it's finally good to settle down for once."

"Phillip." The Audini spoke up.

"Yes?" Phillip asked.

"I love you." She replied.

Phillip smiled. "Love you too." He replied, rubbing her head.

_The end..._

Hooollllyyy crap this one took forever, sorry for the long wait RBW and BAFF fans, this had been my hiatus. I do plan to get back to work on the other stories shortly, for now, i need a little break, i am literally on writing overload right now, but luckily i still have some left to finish the other series, for now, here is a VERY big story to hold you over.


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